Bryan Parker to oppose Quan for Oakland Mayor

An Oakland man who said he would run for mayor if he could raise $20,000 in just 10 days through crowdsourcing surpassed his goal in less than 24 hours.

Seventy-nine donors contributed $23,000 through a website to Bryan Parker, who then said he will run for mayor against Jean Quan, who appointed Parker to the Oakland Port Commission just a year ago.

Parker, a 44-year-old health care executive, is the only candidate besides Quan to file papers declaring intentions to run in the November 2014 election. He's relatively unknown in Oakland's world of politics, and the $23,000 is just a fraction of what political experts say he would need to fund a campaign to beat Quan.

The fundraising cap is expected to be around $400,000 and, to win, campaign committees would likely have to pour in additional money.

"A lot of the people in the city don't know him," said Councilman Larry Reid. "If he's going to run for mayor, he's going to have to raise the maximum amount of money that you can. ... That's going to be a real challenge for him."

Parker, who grew up in Stockton and said he's lived in Oakland for the past 15 years, has never run for elected office. He has been a health care and tech executive, as well as a trustee for Holy Names University in Oakland.

Parker just finished serving as the chair of Oakland's Workforce Investment Board, a body he was appointed to by former Mayor Ron Dellums and which is tasked with addressing unemployment issues.

Parker said that he had told Quan of his political ambitions and that he did not know he'd be interested in being mayor.

"It's no disrespect," said Parker. "Jean has shown great love for this city. To me, it boils down to a question of who can convert the idea of making the city safe, growing our economy and getting jobs for every man, woman and child who wants one.

"I don't see current leadership being able to do that," he said.

Quan could not be reached for comment.

Joe Tuman, a San Francisco State communications professor who ran for Oakland mayor in 2010, has said he's exploring another run.

Patrick McCullough, a North Oakland antidrug crusader who made headlines in 2005 after he shot a 16-year-old outside his home, gathered filing papers Thursday and said he, too, would be entering the race.

Parker went to UC Berkeley for his undergraduate degree and has a law degree from NYU law school. He said he's been to at least 30 house parties over the past seven weeks and knocked on many doors.

He said his crowdfunding, which began on Wednesday, was about drawing more people into the political process.

"Oakland has been, for years, about fundraising and making decisions in the hands of a select few," said Parker. "With crowdsourcing and social media ... this is a signal of what kind of administration we would have. We're going to innovate."